


Of College Girls and Cheap Whirls

by DolleyAntoinette, Hiromujin



Category: Fire Emblem, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Musical References, Nina and Soleil are assholes and Ophelia has to live with it, Nina is an actress, Nina literally has a cat called Alexander Hamilton, She also has mommy issues, Soleil makes gay jokes because she is a gay joke, The College AU no one asked for, This whole fanfiction is white girls getting into drama and making puns, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-17
Updated: 2018-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-06 12:44:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 11,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10334996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DolleyAntoinette/pseuds/DolleyAntoinette, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hiromujin/pseuds/Hiromujin
Summary: An ongoing Modern!AU fic where Nina, Soleil, and Ophelia are roommates in college. Nina is simultaneously on a quest to find her mother, while Soleil's goal is to just bang everyone. Ophelia herself wishes for the stars to shine bright on them.





	1. We Three Girls from... uh...

**Author's Note:**

> This work is a collaboration between myself and my good friend DolleyAntoinette. We will be alternating chapters.

They always did this. They always behaved like a pair of savages. It was, among other things, disgusting. How did they even breathe? Nina couldn't see them stopping to gather breath or anything. It was like a pair of face huggers from that movie about the aliens.

Nina was no stranger to kissing or anything. She was far from a prude, but there was a point where it got annoying. Gray eyes scanned the surrounding area, looking for some sort of distraction to use on the two animals eating each others' faces. Maybe if the unstoppable PDA was met with immovable obnoxiousness, Nina would be free.

An animalistic growl reached her ears. It took a moment before the braided girl realized that was her stomach. She must have been hungry. If previous experiences had taught her anything, Soleil was too busy being lazy and flirtatious with Ophelia to bother getting groceries. Or... they were sitting on the couch. Making out. Loudly.

Absolutely disgusting.

Out of the corner of her eye, Nina caught a glimpse of some potato chips, the word "crunchy" labeled in bright lettering. Nina was an incredibly quick-witted girl, and this may have been a blessing from above on how to get her two roommates to quit sucking face. She heard a moan, no doubt Soleil being unable to keep her brain intact with Ophelia (who was actually a decent kisser, Nina had to admit. Spin the bottle used to be fun when Soleil didn't hog Ophelia from all of them).

Retrieving the snack and making her way to the couch as loudly as possible, Nina opened the bag and began to chew the delicacy with her mouth open. She was a bit disgusted with herself, but couldn't help having a triumphant feeling when Soleil gave her the evil eye.

"Do you mind, Nina?"

"Of course not, Sol! You and Ophelia can leave to your room at any moment!"

Ophelia giggled. Nina's sarcasm was always funny to her, and she liked seeing Soleil blush whenever Nina shot back quickly.

A sigh came from Soleil as her pink hair drooped. It was a sign she admitted defeat. Perhaps Nina was right. The living room was for the three of them, and not JUST Ophelia and Soleil. Her eyes shifted to Nina, who had begun to read her yaoi manga once more, while enjoying her potato chips in a much quieter fashion.

"Say," Soleil said, "Why don't we go see our dads? I'm sure they'll be happy to see us!"

Ophelia jumped up, excited. "The stars point to yes! I'm sure father will be overjoyed at reuniting with Ophelia Dusk."

Nina stifled a laugh. Ophelia was a dork. She rolled up the bag of chips and tucked her book into her jacket pocket. "Okay, let's go."

"...You're really taking that with you?" Soleil asked.

"My father works in a sex shop." No doubt his idea of good gifts for Soleil encouraged her annoying behavior. "I'm sure he'll be fine."

Soleil nodded. "Well then. Let's head off, ladies."


	2. On My Own

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our lovely trio visits their favourite Café in the world: Le Café Au Soleil

Three girls entering a tea shop is not the most unusual thing you can think of.  
However when ⅔ of those girls were having a make out session while walking through the fucking door and the other tried to ignore their disgusting behaviour and instead focus on her lovely romance novel from an oh-so-different culture about the taboo subject of forbidden homosexual love (that being yaoi smut written by some doujin artist), it’s not exactly the most typical of entrances you can think of.

Soleil, Nina and Ophelia were greeted by a busty blonde woman wearing a waitress uniform “Welcome to Le Café Au Soleil- Oh! Welcome back girls!” As her eyes opened she recognised the girls instantly.  
“Hiya, Mommy!” Soleil was quick to say, wrapping her arms around her mother and giving her a quick embrace.  
“It’s good to see you again, Soleil! I got you this! It’s just a little something for getting into college!” she wrapped a silk scarf around her daughter’s neck  
“Aw! Thanks, Mom!”  
“Hello, Miss Charlotte.”  
“The gods smile upon you today, mother of my lover!”  
Charlotte responded to Ophelia quietly, “...Right… Anyway, your dads are over there,” she pointed over to the counter. Laslow was standing behind it, and Odin and Niles were sat on two stools opposite him “I’ll be cleaning in the back, call me if they start acting idiotic again!” She gave her daughter a quick peck on the head before walking away.

“And I swear to God, he had the hugest d-”  
“Hello, boys!”  
Niles’ sentence was cut short by Soleil making the fathers aware of their presence, much to the relieve of Odin and Laslow, who were very uncomfortable by Niles’ sex story.  
“Ah, it’s good to see you girls!” Laslow replied, smiling and hugging his daughter “I’m sure you’re all doing well in college!”  
“Well, duh, daddy!”  
He chuckled at his daughter “I thought so,” Laslow took a look at the girls again “Would you like a drink?”  
Ophelia shook her head, Nina had never seen Ophelia so quiet in 5 minutes before, god this was a new record!  
“An herbal tea please, lemon.”  
He gave her a nod “Coming up!”  
“Oh, daddy! A white coffee too! With real milk and not the fake shit Nina drinks!”  
He chuckled and shook his head “We’re out of the normal milk, I’ll give you almond, I’m sure it’s not that bad,” Laslow turned on his heel and spun around to make the drinks and Soleil fake gagged at Nina “That shit is gross.”  
Nina punched Soleil’s arm lightly “You do realise that milk is bad for yo-”  
“And here comes my favourite game of spot the vegan!”  
“Oh, fuck off. I’ve been in rehearsal 6 days a week for the past year, I picked up a few things and the number one rule is no dairy!”  
“Yeah, but it’s been 2 months since then and you’re no longer in the production. Join us once again so you no longer have a diet of vegetables and sadness.”  
“Oh grow up, Soleil! I prefer this diet anyway, it’s better for me in the long term. And maybe you would benefit from a littl-”  
“BORED!”  
Nina sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, as soon as she gets away from her dad, she’s stuck living with this thing. Soleil had the attention span of a caffeine addicted Chihuahua .

Speaking of him, the one eyed man sitting at the counter shot a glance to his darling daughter “So when you gonna become a movie star and get rich and famous?” he asked, his naturally seductive voice dripping with sarcasm.  
“I’m doing musical theatre, not film. God, dad, do you ever listen to anything I say?!”  
Niles chuckled at his daughter, Nina was still stuck in her angsty pre-teen phase from 2010 and he loved it “Well when you repeat the same sentence about hating me at least twice a day can you blame me for zoning you out?”  
“UGH! You’re the actual worst, I hate you!”  
“What was that, darling?”  
Nina never wanted to slap that stupid smirk off her father’s face more than she did now. “You’re an asshole.”  
“And I fucked your mom.”  
“...What?”  
“Oh, I thought we were listing things which were blatantly obvious.”  
Nina heard a giggle from her best friends, she was glad she had such kind and understanding friends in her life.  
“Do you remember who she is?”  
A pin could be heard dropping after Nina’s question was asked, everyone went silent and Niles’ face turned from an expression of amusement to one of sombre.  
The braided haired girl frowned at her father “I didn’t think so.”  
“Nina, look I get that-”  
She cut off her father “What a surprise! The manwhore doesn’t remember who the mother of his own daughter is-”  
“I found the note that was with you. Take it and see what you can do with it.” he voice was hushed but all too clear to Nina’s ears. She gingerly took the note in his hands and scanned over it, her only response being a nod, her pride being too large to allow her to thank her father.  
“...Are you going to help me find her?...” Nina quietly asked and her father shook his head.  
“I’d rather not. You’re on your own for this, kid.”  
The awkwardness was thick in the air, and no one knew what to say.

Luckily the drinks were ready! Laslow cleared his throat. “Uh, girls, your drinks.” and with that a grin appeared on Soleil’s face “Thanks, daddy!” she took her coffee and sipped it, gagging slightly at the almond milk and moving her hair from her itchy neck, her eyes going to Nina’s letter and a giggle escaping her lips “Wait, no shit, your name is Éponine?!”  
“Uh, yeah, I thought you knew, Ophelia knew-”  
“I always thought it was just something she called you after she watched Les Mis, cus ya’ know that’s the girl which gets friend-zoned and you-”  
“Well, no, it’s my real name! And I don’t care about that time Shiro friendzoned me! He’s a dumb jock who’s still in highschool anyway!”  
“Whatever you say, my little Éponine!”  
“You’re like 5 months older than me, stop treating me like a chil-Uh, Soleil…”  
“What is it?”  
Nina looked at the others who were too looking at Soleil with that strange stare. The pink haired girl laughed nervously “What is it? Something on my face?” she scratched her neck again.  
No one replied, instead Laslow just called out “Uh, Charlotte… Mind coming out a second?”  
The sound of Charlotte’s high heels echoed throughout the small, empty café as she went into the main part of the shop “What is it-OH GOD, SOLEIL! WHAT’S THAT FUCKING RASH?!”  
“Rash?-” Soleil looked into the mirror Ophelia was holding up and her eyes widened in horror at the red bumps forming on her skin around her neck “MOTHER OF GOD!”  
Charlotte quickly grabbed her bag and swung it over her shoulder, grabbing her daughter’s hand “We have to get you to the hospital! Why the hell do you bloody Americans’ still have to pay for this shit?!”  
Laslow was already out of the counter and he quickly placed a hand on his wife’s “Now, calm down, Charlotte! Stop rushing, we don’t want to make any rash decisions, now do we?”  
Everyone went silent at this.  
Did Laslow really have to make a pun while his daughter was breaking out into some kind of allergic reaction? Still, Soleil seemed to like it, giving him a quick high-five before Charlotte grabbed both of their hands, forcing them out of the shop to get to hospital, yelling at Laslow for making a joke at this.

This was almost as bad as the time he made a dad-pun during sex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! This is Dolley, I apologise for the delay, no excuses, I'm just lazy and Hiro wouldn't get off my back (lol)  
> Anyway, I will be uploading the chapters which come after Hiro's! I hope this one was too your liking and it gives you a taste of my writing style compared to Hiro's!
> 
> (this isn't a thing for his chapters, but I'm going to try my best to make each chapter title related to a musical somehow, but Hiro can't know shhh)  
> (also, another note! There are more characters/relationships/tags to be added, we're just going to add them as they come along!)


	3. Maybe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nina argues with Niles some more, unable to understand his thought process. Needing guidance, she talks to a family friend, and finds that maybe Niles does care.

Loud sobs echoed in the halls of the hospital, as Charlotte was in hysterics because of her accidental attack on her daughter. Laslow kept reassuring her that it was all okay, and that Soleil wasn't upset or anything. Nina continued to read her book, ignoring her father, while Ophelia chatted with her mother, who was on shift today. She had taken care of Soleil.

"Soleil will be okay, sweetie! Sakura and I made sure the doctor she was given to is one of our best, okay?" Elise stroked Ophelia's hair. It was unlike Ophelia to be so quiet, but she was worried sick about Soleil. It didn't help that Odin had been called back into work at the last moment so Ophelia was here alone... until her mother had come by.

Nina continued to stare at them, then frowned in her father's direction. He wasn't even going to help her find her mother. How dense was he? All the same... Nina couldn't help but think he may have wanted to give her up like her mother had. He never seemed to care about her, and yet, his motives always benefited her. Nina shook her head before diving back into her book.

The white haired man looked at his daughter, before chuckling. "What's a nice little girl like you doing reading a book like that?"

Nina scoffed. "I'm not a little girl. I'm an adult. I can read what I want, dad."

"I don't doubt that, my dear, but as your father your-"

"Oh please, don't start acting like you care when about an hour ago you basically said I was on my own. Laslow and Odin have been more fatherly to me than you ever have been."

It got so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Nina hadn't realized her voice had been raised a bit, and now everyone was staring. Charlotte looked astoundingly worried, while Laslow had an incredibly sympathetic look in his eyes. Ophelia looked ready to cry, and Elise wouldn't make eye contact with Nina.

Unable to handle the embarrassment, Nina picked up her book and stuffed it in her purse. "I'm taking a cab home. Ophelia, I'll see you and Soleil there. Keep me updated. Miss Elise, always nice to see you. And Laslow, Auntie Lottie, thanks for the food." With one last glare at her father, Nina hurried out of the hospital. She called a cab and headed out. She needed another friend right now.

\-----

"So you just left him there?" Camilla asked, her lavender hair shining under the lights of the kitchen. Camilla was a friend of Charlotte's and had always been motherly towards the children, having had past traumas nearly prevent her from having a child of her own, one who was a very excellent student and a friend of Nina's. That daughter was sitting with them, drinking tea and listening to the conversation.

"Well, yeah. He said I was on my own, so what was I gonna do? Ask him to drive me home?"

Sophie opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Camilla.

"But Nina dear, your father DOES love you. He's just scared."

"Scared of what?" Nina said, her anger boiling, "of being there for me? Laslow and Charlotte are paying for schooling for me, Camilla. He's not doing ANYTHING."

Quietly, Sophie replied, "Maybe he is, you just don't know it..."

"Don't start with me Soph, you and I both know that Niles is a deadbeat, no good womanizer who'd be content not having me at all." It was at this moment Nina was thankful Silas, Sophie's father, was out. He always tried to make her idolize Niles- something Nina would never do.

Camilla put a hand on Nina's. "You know more than anything that if you don't feel like Niles is there for you, you always have a home here, dearie. I'm thrilled you chose to come see me in your time of need. But I want you to try and get along with Niles, please. If you spend a few days with him, you'll see how much he misses you." She heard the doorbell, which prompted Sophie to dart past her and open it. From her chair, Nina saw Soleil and Ophelia. Soleil waved at her with a wide grin on her face, then held up a bag.

"Soleil, Ophelia! Come on in! Stay for a few minutes, won't you? It's getting late and you girls have class tomorrow." Camilla said, her voice dripping with sugary sweetness.

Soleil smiled at her and approached them both. "We actually just came to pick up Nina. And uh..." Soleil thrusted the bag into Nina's chest, "your dad wanted us to give you that. He meant to give it to you earlier but the whole deal with me happened."

The white-haired girl looked at everyone around her. Camilla had a knowing smile on her face- had he asked her what she liked? She reached into the bag and pulled out a piece of paper. It had the local animal shelter's logo on it, and it had some empty spaces left for the name of the pet and Nina's signature. She looked at her friends.

Ophelia giggled and looked at her. "Your daddy, he didn't want you to be alone. So he took Soleil and I to the animal shelter, we showed him the cat you've been wanting to adopt, and asked us to give you this. He's paid all the fees, all you have to do now is sign it, signifying you and the cat's partnership under the stars."

Before she was completely done, Nina wrapped both her and Soleil in a tight hug. They'd really gone so far out of their way to help her. And Niles... he had some idea of what Nina was all about.

Maybe, deep down, he really did care about his daughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here it is, Chapter 3. Doll and I have figured out a good system for writing this, so this should be updated more frequently. We're starting to add more characters, and we have a lot of plans for all of them, so stay tuned.


	4. Alexander Hamilton

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gays adopt a baby.

The sound of Nina’s stupidly high heels (that actually gave her some kind of height to make her measure up to her companions) and the squeals of 18 year old girls filled the previously almost silent animal shelter and there was nothing more heartwarming than watching an emo “90’s kid” born in 1999 and her two 98’ best friends awe and cry over their new cat, god, it was like they were adopting their first child!  
Although Nina was certain to make them know that this was her cat, not theirs, but hers and it was her baby who she would take care of.

The smiley lady in charge of the shelter was just going over the sheets while Nina stroked her new baby’s fur.  
“Perfect! He’s yours to take home, I’m so glad we found a loving family for this little guy!” The lady said with a chirp in her voice.  
All Nina could do was nod, cooing the kitty like it was a child and she was Camilla “Thank you so much!”  
“It’s no problem, oh, just so we know in case we see him around if he goes missing, do you have a name picked out for him?”  
Ophelia and Soleil stared at each other with wide, horror filled eyes as they knew what was coming. In all their days of running an etsy store and dealing with loud, annoying customers from loud, annoying fandoms, had they truly prepared themselves for whatever dumb name Nina was giving this poor cat?! May the gods bless their survival of groans and eye rolls.  
The snowy haired girl nodded, a smirk on her face “Yes! He’s my little Alexander Hamilton!”  
“E-excuse me?”  
“Alexander Hamilton. That’s his name.”  
“Like the guy on the $10 bill?”  
“The one and only!”  
Soleil and Ophelia groaned loudly at Nina’s choice of a name. Why couldn’t she call it something like Tiger, or Whiskers, or something normal?!  
All the lady could do was laugh awkwardly in response “Okay then… Well, I’m sure he will be well loved… Oh, before you leave, go see Shigure over there!” She pointed at a blue haired boy in the corner, currently feeding one of the dogs “He’s collecting donations, they go to the shelter and we can never have too many! It’s for a great cause!”

The girls listened to her words, as they walked over to the corner, Soleil’s smug expression said much more than words could.  
“Dearest Sunshine of Paris, why do you smirk like you have stolen the moon in broad daylight?”  
“Because our little Éponine here has to interact with a boy-”  
“I can hear you!” Nina hissed out “And stop calling me little, I’m not that much younger than both of you!”  
“Nina, Nina, Nina… Do you not realise that we are your parents? We have been ever since you disowned Niles from fatherhood in the year of ‘09! You were an orphan left at Phelie and I’s doorstep and we have raised you ever since.”  
“...Hey, Soleil…”  
“Yeah?”  
“Have you ever considered shutting the fuck up?”  
A laugh escaped the lips of the girls as they made their way over to the blue haired boy in the corner, he was… Cute.  
A creamy, pale complexion, beautiful blue hair that covered his eye, but less in an emo, MySpace way, and more in an artistic, pretty boy way, and sure as hell it looked good on him, his visible eye was golden and dreamy, and over all he was one hot ass guy.  
Nina could hardly control her flushing cheeks as she stared over him, gods, why did he have to be hot?!

He looked up at the girls, a smile flashing on his face as he noticed the cat in it’s carryer “Thank you for adopting, you have no idea how much it means to us! Do you want to make a donation?”  
“...I…”  
“Hm?”  
“...Ah…”  
“...It’s optional, you don’t have to make a donati-”  
Shigure was cut off by the flushing girl handing him a $10 note and before he knew it she was out. Well, that was strange. Oh, well.

\------  
“Nina?”  
“Yeah?”  
“What just happened?”

Nina looked up at Soleil from the back seat, her attention taken off of the cat for a moment “What do you mean by that?”  
“Mr Artist boy in there.”  
She rolled her eyes “Uh, I gave an Alexander Hamilton to get my Alexander Hamilton-”  
“No, you awkwardly stared at him for 30 seconds and freaked him out before shoving $10s in his face.”  
Nina, shoved Soleil’s arm “I did not!”  
“Did too.”  
“Both of you! Sisters from different misters! Calm down, in our presence is the president of the United States of America reincarnated as an adorable kitty cat in our car-”  
“Ophelia, Alexander Hamilton was the first treasury secretary, never president.”  
“Hey, at least she tried!”  
“Whatever!”

The girls stepped out of the car, chatting amongst each other about Nina’s shitty milk and their new cat, they didn’t even realise the woman walking past them, when they did it was because Nina had accidently shoved into her.  
“Oh my god, I’m sorry! Are you alright-”  
“Ignorant child!” she was… Petite to say the least, her voice was high pitched too, but she had an air of maturity surrounding her “Do you have no sense of control or are you just discourteous?!”  
“...Excuse m-”  
“I know you girls. You’re the loud ones who live in the apartment complex next door.”  
“To be fair on Nina, she isn’t exactly the one being loud,” Soleil added a laugh onto her comment “The girl is thirsty-”  
“You all need to quieten down in there. Some of us have things we need to get done and it can happen without the sound!”  
“Jeez, uh, okay, I apologize, Miss-”  
“Nyx.”  
And with that she was gone.

Nina turned back to Soleil “Did we do something wrong?”  
It was Ophelia who responded “By the heavens the hells must have-”  
“Normal talk please.”  
“She’s just being a bitch.”  
A sigh escaped Nina’s lips “Whatever, let’s just get back and feed Alexander.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dolley again~! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I promise me and Hiro have got some really good stuff coming up, just you wait, just you wait...


	5. The Cake is an Apology, not a Lie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nina and her friends bake a cake for the neighbor they accidentally upset. Will the sugary sweetness of their friend Asugi be enough to appease Nyx, or will they be cursed to live with an angry neighbor forever?

Nina's brow furrowed. Her encounter with the neighbor woman had left her very curious. For some odd reason, that lady looked a bit familiar and sounded familiar as well. She shrugged it off- they were neighbors, so maybe she'd seen her more often than not.

Still, she felt a bit mean for bumping into her and for her stupid roommates keeping the older lady up at night. So this morning, our braided friend kicked Soleil and Ophelia out of their beds, forcing them into clothes, and driving them to their friend Asugi's house. Asugi had a web series where he and his cousin Midori showed off recipes that they created and baked them into delicious treats. As clumsy as Asugi was, no one expected his baked goods to be delicious and yet, he won first prize at every bake sale at the high school.

Nina's knuckles tapped on the door rapidly, as she knocked with eagerness. "Asugi! Midori! Wake the hell up, I need your help!"

Ophelia and Soleil hung back, looking like death. This early in the morning, they couldn't be bothered to even look at one another, a drawback of seeing each other at their best so often.

Opening the door was not Asugi, but his mother, Beruka. She looked upset, but her expression softened when she saw who it was. She nodded, then let the three girls in. Saizo, Asugi's father, sat at the kitchen table, newspaper and coffee mug in hand. "Good morning ladies. Has Saizo done something?"

Nina shook her head. "No. We just need his help baking a cake. Our neighbor is a bit displeased with us, and we thought giving her something as delicious as his cakes would be a good way to break the ice. Oh, thank you Beruka."

Nina happily took the coffee mug offered to her by the woman, sipping it while she waited for Asugi. She had to remind herself that Saizo, the father, didn't like the name "Asugi". To him, Asugi would always be Saizo, the sixth in the family. Asugi had given himself a nickname, not wanting to be a carbon copy of his dad. It was baffling thinking someone like Saizo, who hated candy and sweets, was the father of Asugi, the best baker in school.

"My son will be out soon." Beruka said. She went over to Saizo and took his coffee mug. "Have a nice day." She told him plainly.

"Mm." Saizo growled. Getting up from the table. "Enjoy your day, girls."

The three girls nodded as he left. They all exchanged glances, weirded out that Saizo and Beruka hardly ever spoke, but were genuinely in love. The girls sat patiently, and it took a few minutes for Asugi to come out.

He did his typical hello, where he waved wildly, then poured himself a bowl of cereal and piled on the sugar.

"Asugi." Nina said.

"What's up?" Asugi replied.

"I need your help. My neighbor is pissed that the two lip lockers here are so loud. We thought baking a cake might be a good way to-"

"Say no more, I'm on it!" Asugi said loudly. He downed his cereal almost inhumanly quick, then got out his supplies. "Alright, let's bake a cake!"

\---

Hours later, after downing a second cake that Asugi had convinced them to make once Midori had arrived to film their show, the girls stood in the doorway of the house, where Beruka handed them the cake in a neat little box. She gave them the smallest smile. "Thank you for playing with Asugi today."

"Anytime! Thank you for having us!" Soleil said with a smile.

Ophelia giggled. "May the stars bless your home with happiness and love!"

"We'll see you later Beruka. Thank you again." Nina said, guiding the other two to the car. "Soleil, you drive. I don't trust you to not sit on the cake while you try to make out with Ophelia in the car."

Soleil rolled her eyes. "Oh give me a break..." she said, taking the keys and getting in the driver's seat. "Let's just go give this to the Wicked Witch of the West Wing before it's too dark for her to be human."

Ophelia snorted loudly, while Nina just frowned.

"That's NOT nice Soleil."

"Yeah well, I'm the driver now, so shut it."

The trip home was a constant back and forth. Nina tried to get Soleil to see Miss Nyx in a better light, while Soleil swore that Nyx was a demon or some other creature of the night. Ophelia just sat quietly, enjoying the argument.

Once they got back to the apartment, Nina scrambled out of her seat, excited to put her plan to action. She left Ophelia and Soleil behind, making them wonder if all she had wanted from them was company while she tried to kiss ass.

Nina's white hair bounced up and down as she rocked on her feet. She knocked gently on Nyx's door, which opened rather quickly.

"Yes?" The woman said in her amusingly high-pitched voice.

"Hi Miss Nyx," Nina replied in a happy voice, "I know we bumped into one another in a rather bad way the other day, and we've been a bit of a burden, so I thought that my friends and I would bake you a cake just to be a bit friendly and ease some of the tension." Her confidence had dwindled slightly. Nina was a bit unnerved by the woman's stare. It seemed as though she glared daggers every time they were open and seemingly unblinking.

Nyx grabbed the box and opened it, noticing how nearly the cake was decorated with symbols these girls had grabbed off Google Images in an attempt to appeal her. Still, the thought was nice and Nyx was a polite woman who knew better than to pick a fight with some dumb kids. She gave Nina a smile. "I appreciate the thought, Nina. Tell your friends I said thank you. Have a good night." She shut the door before Nina could reply.

Nina stood there, rather awed at how it went so well. With a giggle and a turn, she bounded back to her apartment. They didn't have class tomorrow, so maybe she'd do something nice for her friends tonight to celebrate not being murdered by their neighbor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, Hiro here with chapter 5 finally! This week has been a bit hectic, so I apologize for this not being uploaded on Monday as it should have been. I hope you all enjoy the continuing adventures of our dear college kids.


	6. Would You Light My Candle?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nina falls smitten for a boy.

“So, how’d you enjoy the movie, Nina?” The cotton-candy haired girl asked, stroking up and down the bare arm of the half-dressed blonde on her lap.  
Nina scoffed at Soleil’s question, rolling her doe, blue eyes “Oh, it was great! Aside from the fact you two spent like 95% of the film makingout within an earshot of me!”  
A giggle escaped Ophelia’s lips as she got off of her girlfriend’s thighs “Oh, darling Éponine! You are so lonely and the gods do not think it is time for our child to-”  
“Your child?”  
“Yes! The day you disowned your father in 2011 and we found you as an orphan on our doorstep! We have raised you ever since and treated you as our own! But that is not the point! The gods do not think it is time for you to be in love so you do not realise the romance of our nature and why we must display our love like so!”  
Nina sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose “Just because I do not have a boyfriend, doesn’t mean I don’t understand couples-”  
“Yeah, I mean she reads porn like 24/7, she must have picked up on something!”  
“Oh, fuck off.”  
Soleil laughed, walking over to the kitchen and grabbing the half drank bottle of wine “You want more, ladies?”  
“Hit me up.” Nina quickly replied, slamming her glass onto the table “How did you afford such good wine anyway? Did Ophelia’s etsy have a sudden boost?”  
“Nope, got a job making sandwiches on Wednesdays and weekends at Subway! And I just wanted to spoil my favourite girls!”  
The snowy haired girl nodded at the news and took a sip from her re-filled glass, re-tying her sheer nightgown up “Hey, what other DVDs do we have? I wanna watch something without you two producing ASMR in my ear.”  
Soleil shrugged as they walked over to the bookcase with random DVDs in them “Hey, why do we even have this many? They get pricey and I mean… We have netflix, come on, we don’t need to buy all these.”  
“I guess I just think it’s nice to have a physical copy is all-”  
Ophelia cut them off as her eyes widened in joy, her long, dark lashes fluttering slightly as she grinned “I have found it!”  
“Found what?” asked Soleil.  
“THE RECORDING OF OUR MIDDLE SCHOOL PERFORMANCE OF LEGALLY BLONDE: THE MUSICAL!”  
Soleil gasped, quickly managing to get out “Put it on! Put it on! Put it on!”  
“WAIT NO!”

\----

It was the starting point of Act 2. And Nina wanted to die.  
And Soleil and Ophelia were being assholes about it.

The Nina on the TV gasped out “A Delta Nu would never sleep with a man in a thong!”  
And real Soleil burst into laughter “How did they even let us do the uncensored version?!” She wiped a few stray tears and looked at her friend with a smug smirk “Hey, Nina, would you sleep with a m-”  
Her stupid question was cut short by the TV unexpectedly turning off, along with the lights and the microwave and literally everything in the apartment which was fueled by power.

“What the hell?!” Soleil cried out, straining her eyes to grab a torch or anything to help them see in the dark “A power cut?!”  
“I’m certain it is nothing, my lover! Relax and sit with me! We can live like artists now and talk about life!”  
Nina could feel the smirk on Soleil’s face rise at the idea. Ophelia’s words may have been innocent, but they had finished a bottle of wine, were clad only in lacy underwear (to Nina’s credit, she was wearing a sheer robe over the top, but that didn’t really hide anything), and had no lighting.  
This could only lead to sex.

“Hey, Nina…”  
“Yes, Soleil?”  
Soleil’s arm snaked around Ophelia’s waist and brought her closer “While me and ‘Phelie here have a nice… Talk…. How about you go find a light source?”  
“I guess I have some candles in my roo-”  
“Perfect! Go light your candle!” and with that they were in their own room.

Nina’s eyes rolled and she walked into her room, grabbed the candle on her desk and walked out of the apartment, she would rather not listen to whatever they were going to do in the room of sins.

\----

A dainty fist knocked on the door of whoever lived underneath them, they seemed to have a dim light escaping through the crack of their door, so that was something at least, and in her drowsy state, Nina didn’t feel like going down another flight of stairs.  
She recognised the boy who opened the door, but where from? He had blue hair, creamy skin- Oh god he was the boy from the shelter.  
“Oh, hello, Miss,” he said with a polite smile on his face as he looked at Nina “Do you need something?”  
Her eyes examined the room behind him, he had many boxes which had not be opened, from what she could tell there was little furniture, just one sofa and a table with one chair, he had sketchbooks almost everywhere though, along with random sheets of paper scattered around, some with pictures, others with what looked like music written on them, alongside a guitar still in it’s case. But what caught her eye was that there was lit candles around the apartment, giving the room a warm glow.  
“Miss?”  
Her thoughts had been broken by his second calling “I-uh-um- Got a light?” she managed to get out, leaning in slightly and holding out her candle.  
His response was a nod as he gestured for her to come in as her walked over to a box of matches, and she followed him “I think I know you…” He muttered, turning around with his box of matches opening it, he looked at her and his brow furrowed “You’re shivering…”  
She continued to hold out her candle “W-well, you know, the power turned off and that includes the heat and it’s kinda chilly-”  
“You’re attire certainly doesn’t help, I imagine.” he mused, looking at her… Lack of clothes before lighting her candle with his struck match.  
She bowed her head bashfully, damnit, why do the hot ones have to be so darn smooth?!  
“I, uh… Thank you…” his gaze on her began to feel kinda odd “What are you staring at?” she asked with a frown.  
His golden eyes widened “Nothing! I didn’t mean to act creepy, it’s just you have a lovely figure and- Ah! That doesn’t sound much better,” he turned and grabbed a sketchbook showing it to her “You see I’m new here and I’m currently looking for some people to live model for me and I think you’d be lovely to draw,” he turned his head to put down the book and maybe it was the wine, but Nina wanted to spend a little more time with him and suddenly she felt a little more confident due to his comment, so while his head was turned, she blew out her candle.  
“It’s out again.” she smiled and leaned in closer as he spun around to face her “Would you tell me more?”  
“Oh, of course. You see, I enjoy drawing a wide range of figures and I think you’d be a good place to start, very petite yet leggy with slight curves, it’s a basic figure most artists start with, but I have been neglecting drawing the basics and I need to get back into practise.”  
She could feel her cheeks heaten up “Oh, um, thank you.”  
“It’s nothing to thank me for. It’s true. I think you’d be good for some girlish poses as well, something more innocent and sweet. Perhaps we should find some period gowns and draw you like a young lady a few centuries ago.”  
She laughed “Innocent and sweet? I mean, my friends don’t exactly call me that!”  
It was then him who chuckled “Well, I am thinking more rococo themed, and they were known for having some beautiful, yet erotic, paintings, they were very classy though, I just think sweet and innocent would work for someone like you, you’re braids may be the reason behind that though, do you think you could pretend?”  
“Well, I am an actress! I could play sweet and innocent!”  
He smiled, leaning against the table “An actress?”  
“Well, kinda… I haven’t been in that much, just a couple of theatre productions… But as soon as I graduate I’m going to head to New York and become a Broadway actress!”  
“Sounds like a big dream,” he looked at her and smiled softly “So you do musicals?”  
“Yup! Why? Do you?...”  
“Well, I sing, but I can’t dance or act very well.”  
Her eyes lit up and she grabbed his forearms, pulling him closer to her “I’ll show you how to dance!”  
He shook his head and grabbed another match, re-lighting her candle “I’m not one to dance,” he smiled “I’ll talk to you soon, I’m Shigure if you wanted to know.”  
“Oh, okay then…” Nina turned around leaving the apartment, a frown on her face, as the door was shut she turned around to face the door. Looking back at her candle, then at the door, and back to the candle, a smirk made it’s way to her face. She wasn’t done with this.

Nina blew her candle out and knocked on the door, and seconds later he opened it and raised his eyebrow “Your candles’ out?”  
She grinned with a nod and skipped inside. Shigure couldn’t help but smile at this, she was just perfect for his visions of artwork, she was adorable, yet naughty, but in a cute way, even when she was clad in lingerie… But that was not the point.  
He reached over to the matches and lit another one, lighting her candle once more “I recognise you, but I don’t know where from, I know I’ve seen you.”  
“Oh really?” she asked, running her fingertips across the top of the flames, her attention more on that rather than Shigure.  
“Do you have any pets, I work at the shelter-” Nina’s high pitched yelp cut him off, he looked at the fingers holding the candle, the wax had obviously drizzled onto them “Oh, the wax, it’s dripping, be careful.”  
“It’s fine,” she replied, putting on of the fingers in her mouth before taking it out and smirking “I like it between my l-”  
“Fingers.”  
“That too.” she smirked and looked at it as it dyed out “Would you light my candle?”  
Shigure shook his head “That was my last match… But I’m sure you’ll be fine.”  
Nina nodded, but she had another idea.

“Wanna dance?”  
“Miss, please…”  
“Come on, Shigure!” she grinned, dropping the candle onto the table and grabbing his hands “Please!”  
He sighed in defeat “Fine then.”

She grabbed his hands, placing one on her waist and holding the other, she began to hum, it was less of dancing, more of them just swaying on the spot.  
Shigure couldn’t help but fall somewhat smitten for this girl, she was daring, to say the least. He smiled, “Shall we dance?...” He sung out quietly, continuing to sway with her “On a bright cloud of music shall we fly?...”

Those few minutes felt like hours.  
After he finished half-singing, half-mumbling the song, he looked down at her as she pulled away “You should probably head home, miss. But it was nice to meet you,”  
She frowned and grabbed her candle, but nodded in defeat, he was right, she should head back to Soleil and Ophelia, she began to make her way out, that was until Shigure called out a “Wait!” She paused in her tracks and stood at the door way “I never got your name.”

A smirk found it’s way onto her face and she winked, turning around, leaving him with one answer before she left:  
“Mi chiamo, Nina.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter! It's a little longer than normal, so I apologise if it's a little tedious! Feel free to leave a comment about it!   
> -Dolley


	7. Killer Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro, a friend of our lovely ladies', arrives at the sandwich shop where Soleil works with a bit of odd news. Sophie tries to get info, and Caeldori tries her best to not freak out.

"Tell us about him, Nina!"

"Who?"

"The boy you met!"

"She met a boy!?"

"What's it matter to you, Caeldori?"

"I'm just excited is all!"

It was a quiet Wednesday afternoon. Since most people were in class, Soleil was alone at work. That is, until her friends had all shown up. Now they were grilling Nina about Shigure. They'd met over the weekend, but Nina refused to tell them where he lived or anything about him, despite constantly going to his place for some modeling.

"I bet he drew you naked, huh?" Caeldori said, a smirk on her face.

"N-No!" Nina said with a blush.

Sophie giggled. She was adjusting Caeldori's headband on her bright red hair. "Yeah, and my Daddy doesn't have a stick up his rear. Please Nina, all boys are the same."

Nina shook her head and frowned. "I don't kiss and tell."

"So you kissed him!" Ophelia said, very happy at this development. "The stars have shown my dear little-"

Nina smacked her lightly with her book. "Oh will you stop? No, I didn't. It's an expression."

Before anyone could go any further, the door dinged and in came in a very excited guy with dark brown hair. "Guys! Guys!" It was Shiro, Caeldori's current boyfriend.

"Hi baby." Caeldori said, getting up to greet him. Cupping his hands in her face, she pecked him on the lips. "You look pale! Are you alright?"

"No, I'm fine! I just... I remembered which girl I was talking about the other day!"

Caeldori pouted and crossed her arms, then took her seat. How typical of Shiro. As much as they both loved one another, Shiro had a tendency to be... hyper-masculine, one could say. He always had women on the brain, and he was faithful, sure, but in their two months of dating, he seemed to tell more stories about other girls than Caeldori.

Soleil came out of the counter area, her coworker had arrived when Shiro had and it was time for Soleil to go home. She approached the group. "What girl? The one at the concert?" A side glance at Caeldori. "Shiro, Caeldori's here, don't you think-?"

Shiro slammed his hand on the table. "It was the chick at the library! You know, the one with the purple hair and pigtails? That's the one!"

The girls all looked at one another, then burst into laughter.

"Yuzu?" Nina said, laughing harder, "Dude, she's a total prude! She wouldn't hook up with a guy at a concert! Have you been smoking with Midori?"

Soleil wrapped her arms around Ophelia and rested her chin on her head. "Oh come on Shiro! You can lie about any girl you want, and you choose to lie about the one girl who's COMPLETELY unattainable for you?"

Caeldori sighed. "I agree. Normally I'd be livid you're once again putting more importance on other girls, but this is so outlandish that I will let it slide."

"Babe, come on! You're supposed to be supportive of me!"

"Honey. You know I will ALWAYS support you, but-"

Another bell dinged. This time, it was the girl being spoken about who entered. She had a rather unamused demeanor, and looked to be in a rush.

"Hi Yuzu!" Sophie said. Since Sophie spent so much time studying, of course she'd know the library assistant. Silas was delighted Sophie had a friend outside the "usual delinquents" like Caeldori and Soleil even if Camilla, Sophie's mother, absolutely loved all of her friends.

"Oh, hello Sophie. Nice to see you carefree." Yuzu said quietly. She looked awkward and wondered why everyone was staring at her as she ordered.

Everyone at Nina's table was quiet, waiting for Yuzu to finish. Once she was done, Sophie asked her to join them. Once she sat down, it started.

"So, Yuzu! This is my friend Caeldori, and her boyfriend Shiro. Shiro tells us you've met before."

Shiro gave her a smolder, which prompted a light smack from Caeldori. "Ow!" he exclaimed.

Yuzu chewed her food quietly and looked up at Shiro. She stared for a moment, before shaking her head, "Nope, can't say I have."

Ophelia and Nina snorted really loudly. Soleil giggled and Caeldori looked incredibly relieved.

"What? No, yeah we have! You remember the Panic! At concert?"

"Yes, and I have enough self-respect to not have a fling at a concert."

"No, but see, you let your self-respect down that night, by hooking up with me!"

"Sorry, Shiro was it? I did not do that with you or anyone." Yuzu reaffirmed. She'd finished her small sandwich and crumpled up the paper, then took her drink and collected her purse. "Sophie, I'll see you later. Caeldori, I apologize if my presence made you uncomfortable. Perhaps your boyfriend needs to be kept on a leash? Take care." And with that, she excused herself.

"God, what a bitch!" said Shiro and Caeldori in unison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 7 is here! With a really great song as the title.
> 
> I've been watching a lot of sitcoms to figure out a tone I wanna set for some of Shiro's chapters. I hope you enjoy!


	8. Look at Me, I'm Sophie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sleepover between our highschoolers.

“Listen, Cael’, this is what we all needed! High school has been such a... b-bitch to us all!”  
Cursing was something Sophie was still trying to get a hold of.

After the… Events of the earlier day, Sophie had ended up inviting Caeldori over to her house, deciding some feminine company was much needed for her best friend, and of course that ended up leading to inviting all the girls from the “Hoshidan” circle of the school, the more the merrier she supposed, and Camilla certainly had no objections! She was more than happy to see her daughter making new friends after recently joining the local high school and getting out of private schooling.

A smirk formed on Rhajat’s lips as she heard Sophie’s lack of clarity when it came to swearing “How expected. The rich girl doesn’t know how to swear! I’ll teach ya’-”  
“No thank you! Daddy won’t be pleased-”  
Sophie’s words were cut off by Rhajat’s laughter “Daddy this! Daddy that! I swear you have like a daddy kink or something! Come on, it’ll be fun!”  
Caeldori was the one to cut of Rhajat, she was certainly the black sheep of the group, although what was so odd was that Rhajat was a cheerleader… Although many suspected it was too creep on the girls, she was welcomed in anyway, “Rhajat! Be nice!” she said with a disapproving frown “Sophie invited us here, be poliet!”  
She rolled her eyes, peeking up at Caeldori’s tall and slim form from under her bangs “Whatever.”  
The door opened and the girls’ heads all span round to see who it was, which happened to be Camilla “Hello, ladies!” she said chirpily “Just making sure everything’s okay-”  
“We’re fine, Mom.”  
A hearty laugh rang out “Oh, Sophie! I understand, don’t want me to embarrass you infront of your friends? I understand, when I was your age I was just the same, I never wanted your grandfather to come home early when I was at a party, I know what it’s like!” she pecked her daughter on the cheek, which just lead to Sophie letting out an embarrassed “Mom!” as she tried to fan her off, and with that Camilla smiled and nodded, stepping out of the room with a wave.

“Your mom is hot.”  
“Shut up, Rhajat.”  
The goth smirked, leaning over the bed and grabbing a paper bag “Okay! Okay! How about a little something to get us going!”  
“Rhajat is that wine?!”  
“You know it!”  
Midori was the first to look at the bottle “Oh! Fancy-”  
“Hey!” Rhajat hit the younger girl over the head with the now empty bag “Sophie didn’t get any!”  
The lavender haired lass shook her head “Oh, no thank you.”  
An eyebrow was raised at the Nohrian “I bet you never had a drink before.”  
“Oh! Not true!” she jumped up slightly to turn and face Rhajat “I had some champagne once at my cousin Siegbert’s 18th birthday!”  
“There we are! What you afraid of then?”

Rhajat snatched the bottle from Midori, handing it to Sophie, to which she reluctantly took it from her, swallowing her pride, along with the wine.  
The redhead, however, decided that maybe she should change the subject before someone got in trouble “Hey, Sophie, you ever got your ears pierced?”  
“Oh, um, no I haven’t-”  
Selkie jumped up in excitement “I’ll do it!”  
The girls all laughed all harmonising “Dun! Dun! Dun~!”  
“I don’t know how my parents would feel about it-”  
Rhajat laughed again “Don’t worry about it! If she fucks up Caeldori can style your hair to cover it up! Here! Take a pin!” she handed a decorative saftey pin from her bag to Selkie.  
“Now, hold still!” and with a sharp gasp from Sophie, the pin was through her ear lobe.  
“I think I’m bleeding!” and with that Sophie ran into the en-suite bathroom without another word, and Caeldori ran after her, shutting the door.

A few moments later, a grimacing Caeldori opened the door “So, uh, Sophie just threw up.. She took one look at the blood and yeah... “ she turned her head back in the door “You want any help?”  
“I’m fine, thank you, go back out and enjoy the sleepover.”  
Cealdori gingerly shut the door behind her with a worried frown on her face  
“Will you STOP worrying for once, Cael?” Mitama asked, looking up from her book which had left her previously silent “You will have a heart attack if you continue being such a hen.”  
Rhajat nodded in agreement “Why you so loving to Sophie anyway? What’s she got that none of us have?”  
“...”  
Caeldori’s answer left Rhajat satisfied, and with a smirk on her face she put on her best Nohrian accent “Look at me, I’m Sophie! I won’t go to bed till I’m married!” She laughed, before crossing her legs “Oh no! I can’t fuck you! My daddy says no!- What are you looking a….” Rhajat’s head turned to see Sophie standing behind her.  
“You making fun of me, Rhaj?”  
“...Some people are so touchy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for the chapter being shorter than normal, there were quite a few delays and such. Future chapters may be slower to set out for IRL reasons, but we're trying to keep updates at least once a week.


	9. The Beginning of the End?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A horrible mood has spread upon everyone, even in light of a happy occasion, Nina wonders if the best years of her life are going to come to a drastic halt.

Months rolled by for our heroes and heroines, most of them bleak and empty without a chance to truly hang out. The stress from classes and jobs had finally started to affect everyone, making it seem like a war had taken place.

"Soleil, you knew I had to finish these products to fulfill my guarantee! You promised we would today!" Ophelia shouted loudly, practically shaking the whole apartment.

Soleil frowned. "I told you, I'm sorry! But Christmas is in about two months, and I need to start saving up. I think it's time I started thinking about everyone except myself."

"That is a horrible excuse! Even more horrible than the time you tried to stalk me in Middle School to get with me!"

"Well look who fell for it!" Soleil blew a raspberry in Ophelia's face, prompting a very displeased look from the blonde.

Nina sighed. She just wanted to draw in peace. These two had been at it for the past two weeks. Ever since Soleil had started picking up all the extra hours she could at the sandwich shop, leaving Ophelia to work on her etsy shop alone, there had been nothing but resentment.

Feeling pity, Nina had helped Ophelia, of course, but she could only do so much. With her relationship with Shigure in full-swing, it was hard to make time for both of them. Art classes kept Shigure so busy he and Nina only really had one time a week to hang out, and with her own search for her mother, her time was limited anyway. Now these two were fighting, and Nina just wanted no part of it. She heard a door slam and decided that was the last straw. Nina needed to go see someone other than these two.

...Maybe Miss Nyx, her kind neighbor, would be willing to talk? And Alexander Hamilton, Nina's darling cat, WAS with her, after all. Nina had wanted him away from all the yelling- he seemed so frightened at home the past couple of weeks.

Nina tiptoed past the living room quietly, only to see Soleil outside on the stairs, holding herself and crying.

"...Sol?" She said gently, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Soleil turned, wiping her face quickly. "Oh, hey Nina. Where are you off to?"

"Uh, just on a walk. You look nice, where are you going?"

"Oh, my dad has his company dinner tonight with his boss. My dad likes it when I come to these things, and I haven't seen him or Mom since that day at the restaurant, so you know."

Nina nodded. "Yeah. I haven't seen my dad in a while... not like he'd wanna help me look for my mom or anything."

"Nina, I hate to say it, but do you really need a mom? I know that it must bite not knowing who she is, but your dad is so sleazy it could be anyone. And by this point, haven't Shigure's parents adopted you? You're head over heels with the guy!"

"...I haven't met them yet. And it does suck! That's why I wanna meet MY mother, Sol. I'll always see your mom and Phelie's as surrogates, but... I just want MY own, you know?"

A sigh escaped Soleil's mouth. "Can't do anything about that. I'll ask around at the party, see if anyone knows your dad. I usually talk about you when I talk about my roommates, so I'm bound to figure something out. I know Niles worked for my daddy before he started working for Forrest's. Try asking Forrest to look into his dad's stuff too."

Nina nodded. "Alright. Call me if you need anything, okay Sol? I'm worried about you and Phelie right now."

Soleil looked nervous suddenly.

"...Sol?"

"I, uh... if you're not doing anything, you wanna come with me? Ophelia ran off to her mom's for the night, not wanting to see me, and she was my plus one, but that plan's off, haha..."

Nina smiled. She wanted to get away from the apartment for a while, but spending time with JUST Soleil sounded kind of nice. They hadn't done so in a long time.

"Let me go get dressed, okay?" Nina said, absolutely giddy. What kind of forbidden things would await her at a rich man's party? Surely more than just a good time. All the men, secretly going off to perhaps their secret affairs, leaving their wives to wonder where they have gone? It was too good!

\---

After a fairly long car ride, Nina and Soleil arrived at the location of the party. Nina was surprised to see so many rich people in the room. Suddenly though, she missed Shigure.

"Nina! Soleil!" Said a voice. It was Siegbert, the son of Xander, and a good friend of theirs.

"Sieg!" Soleil said, pecking him on the cheek and hugging him. "How are you? I heard everything went well for you?"

"Yeah," Siegbert said, "I was really glad to get it all off my chest."

Nina choked on the drink she took from the tray that had been passed around, before she started to giggle. He was in such a better mood than before. It was fantastic to see. She wiped her mouth and then went over to him, repeating what Soleil had done. "Well congrats on getting your dad to come around! I'm happy he helped you so much."

"Hey! There's my girls!" Said a voice, wrapping Nina and Soleil in a hug. "And Siegbert! What a pleasant addition!"

"Hi daddy!" Soleil said, smooching her dad on the cheek. Where's Mom?"

Laslow chuckled, "She's over at the mini bar, having a drink. I said I'd come find you. Why not go see her?"

Nina smiled at them. "I'll be by to see Auntie Lottie in a bit. I wanna catch up with Sieg for a bit."

Laslow pat her back in understanding and took Soleil to see Charlotte, leaving Nina with Siegbert.

"Aw, Nina, you should be with Soleil! I hear it's been tough for her and Ophelia..."

"No kidding... so much fighting. I had to take my poor cat to a neighbor's because of them. He's been so scared."

Siegbert took a drink of his own and looked at it. "Yeah... I don't think my dad's news tonight will be good for Soleil or Laslow, if I'm honest. They may go into shock."

"What do you mean? He's not firing Laslow is he!?"

Siegbert put his hands up in protest, "NO NO NO! He's getting married! It's just... WHO he's getting married to."

"Oh?" Nina sipped the drink, "What do you mean?"

"Well, you know how Laslow has that adoptive sister he hasn't seen in a while?"

"Lucina? Yeah what about her?"

"Well..."

Before the blond boy could respond, Xander's voice echoed through the microphone, "Excuse me, everyone? I have an announcement I'd like to make."

Xander looked happy, happier than Nina had ever seen. She'd only seen a picture of him this happy, and it was the night of his wedding with Peri.

Suddenly, Nina lost color. "OH."

Siegbert cleared his throat. "Yeah..."

"The lovely Lady Lucina Ylisse has just agreed to marry me!" Xander continued, "As many of you work with me, I wanted to announce this momentous occasion!"

Applause erupted from everyone. Suddenly, Nina was tapped on the shoulder by Soleil. "Nina, uh... could you, stay with me for a bit? Dad's a bit... miffed neither of them told him about... You know."

Nina nodded. "Isn't he happy for Lucina?"

"Well yeah, but that's his boss, man! That'd be like you dating mine and marrying him without telling me!"

Siegbert chimed in, "She has a point."

Nina rolled her eyes, "Did he leave?"

"No, but I've never seen him this mad. Ever. Even when I came home shirtless after vandalizing Xander's car on accident."

Nina remembered that night all too well.

Siegbert looked at them both, "If I may cut in, why do we not escape upstairs? My father only asked I be present for the news, but the others are upstairs. We can relax with them."

Soleil sighed. "I guess. I have to congratulate my aunt Luci first. I'll meet you guys up there."

Siegbert and Nina bid her goodbye and headed up the stairs.

The tone of everything nowadays seemed miserable to Nina. And she worried things wouldn't get any better from here on out. But of course, that was better kept to herself. She didn't want to ruin Xander's happy night. Or Siegbert's. He'd told them all stories of his father's latest fling, how amazing she was and how happy she made him and his father. As his friend, all Nina could do was respect that.

...Even if the thought of Xander with such a younger woman made her uncomfortable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we have it, a surprising twist that no one could have seen coming. Right? RIGHT!?
> 
> Also, a disclaimer. Yes, Siegbert is trans. This was a decision Doll and I made in order to make the story as realistic as possible- many people exist in real life nowadays, and there is no shame in any of them, especially those that lack positive representation! As neither Doll nor I are trans, we have chosen to not write too deeply about struggles we could never understand. It would be rude to assume we could ever accurately portray those struggles, and overall would do a disservice to our intent of positive representation. Siegbert is going to be a heavily reoccurring character from now on, so we hope you enjoy!


	10. Voice Mail #1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The party continues

“Well, damn daddy, Auntie Luci’s already hooked up?!”  
Laslow groaned, his head on the empty, save a drink on it, alongside his daughter and Nina.  
His groan was his only response.  
“I’m sorry, Mr Laslow, but perhaps you could be happy for Lucina? She seems happy-”  
“MY SISTER IS ENGAGED TO MY BOSS!”  
Soleil nervously giggled, not knowing that to do, she wrapped an arm around her father “Come on, daddy… Be supportive! Would you act this way if I got engaged?”  
“You’re a lesbian, Soleil! I would happily support you if you married Ophelia! But boys…. Boys…”  
“So… Uh…. Soleil, I see Asugi over there shall we talk to him?!” Nina quickly asked in a desperate hope to get out of the awkward situation they were stuck in.  
“Oh god yes!” She stood up “Get well soon, daddy!~” She exclaimed as she ran off with Nina, her pink locks bouncing as she left her father to mope.

“‘Ello, girls!” Asugi chirply greeted as he waved to them “Is Miss Starshine Princess with you?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.  
“Ophie has been kinda….” Nina tried to find the right word, Soleil filled in for her  
“She’s been a moody bitch.”  
The ginger couldn’t help but chuckle “Never thought I’d hear you say that!”  
Nina, in her discomfort, decided to change the topic “So, Ausgi, you here alone?”  
“Nah, I came with my parents and Doc”  
“‘Doc’?”  
“It’s what he calls Midori.”  
Nina couldn’t help but snicker “Please tell me she didn’t bring brownies!”  
Asugi laughed again “Nah, she wasn’t allowed!”  
“But anyway, where’s she now?”  
Asugi glanced around, eventually pointing at a table, to which Midori was sat, alongside a bunch of other familiar faces.  
“Hey, Nina! Your boyfriend is sat there!” Soleil quickly exclaimed  
“No way, Nin’s has a boyfriend already?” Asugi asked with a raised eyebrow “Let’s meet the unlucky fella’ and get a drink!”

After a far too long night of a distressed Nina and a lot of alcohol, Soleil and Nina were finally heading back home, of course, our two darlings were totally wasted.

“Shhhhhut up, Nina!” Soleil managed to slur out, tucking a pastel lock behind her ear with her left hand, her right wrapped tightly around her friend’s waist as the two stumbled home, their drunken state and Nina’s high heeled boots not being a good combo.  
“I-I’m just saying,” Nina’s sentence was cut off by a hiccup, followed by a giggle “Y-your dad is hot when he’s mad!”  
Soleil’s nose wrinkled in disgust and she slapped Nina before laughing as the two made their way into the empty apartment, collapsing onto the couch in exhaustion, the two were a complete and utter hot mess.  
Nina’s braids were messy, her beret hardly even on and her coat undone, her lace up boots weren’t exactly the most comfortable thing either, she curled up on the sofa, ready to pass out any moment.  
“Niiiinnnna…..” Soleil groaned out “You can’t sleep yet….”  
“Mmmm… Fuck off…”  
“NI-NA.” The little rey of sunshine kicked off her shoes and curled up in a similar manner “A-answer the answering machine…”  
Soleil stumbled over to the answering machine, pressing on the button, firstly hearing the message of all 3 girls chiming “Speak!”  
And then the message played, and even in their drunken state, both the girls could feel their hearts skip a beat as Ophelia’s message was heard.

“It’s over.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is short, but I've been really struggling to write up chapters, my apologises


	11. Teenagers Scare the Living Shit Outta Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nina confronts Ophelia, demanding to know what the hell she’s thinking, and somewhere along the line finds help from someone she didn’t expect.

“It’s over.”

Soleil played the message repeatedly. Over and over. It’s over. It’s over. It’s over. She still couldn’t believe it. Every time the girl played the message, she held her breath, waiting for Ophelia to burst through the door, carrying her boxes and saying “gotcha!”, then moving back in. But no, that wouldn’t happen. The half of the room that Ophelia had occupied? Empty. As empty as Soleil’s heart was without her love there.

While Soleil moped, Nina was livid. How could Ophelia do that to Soleil? It had only been twelve hours since the breakup, but Nina was not going to back down without a fight. Ophelia would come home, even if it was in a body bag.

...Okay, maybe not that far.

Taking her spot at the café table, Nina awaited the honey haired girl. Soon enough, she came and sat down.

“Nina,” She started, before Nina cut her off.

A sigh escaped Nina’s lips. “Look Ophelia. You’ve destroyed Soleil. She’s sitting at home doing nothing but crying. I get it, you had your reasons. But what happened to talking about your issues, you know, like the goddamn adult you technically are?”

Ophelia’s face hardened into a tight frown. “Look, I can’t help it. You and Soleil scare the shit out of me when you’re both against me. And you know for a fact you two would gang up on me if I tried to talk to you!”

“Yeah, because we’re best friends and you’re both practically my sisters. How the fuck am I NOT going to care?”

Ophelia slammed her hand on the table. “Look, ya dip. I know for a fact you went with Soleil to the party to spite me for scaring your shitty cat.”

Nina’s eyes widened, before a scowl appeared on her face. “Don’t insult my kitty. It’s not MY fault you dropped water on him and he hated you!”

“Yes it is. No one asked you to actually adopt him.”

“You wanna freaking go, Wannabe?”

“The stars say ‘go fuck yourself, Braid Bunch’.”

“GIRLS!” Came the shrill cry of Charlotte, who had been trying to stop them for the past few minutes. She grabbed them both by their wrists and hauled them to the back room. “What in the HELL are you two doing?”

Ophelia looked away. “I was just leaving, Charlotte. It’s not important. Nina’s just sour that I’m right.” With a final scowl, she exited the café, not looking back for a moment.

“Nina?” Charlotte asked, her eyebrow raised.

It was then that Nina spilled everything about Soleil and Ophelia’s waning relationship, and how tensions finally caused them to split, leaving Soleil an undignified mess of tears and sad movies.

Charlotte sighed, “I-I see. So that’s why Soleil hasn’t been calling as often. I wasn’t too worried since I knew she had a part time job now, but to think Ophelia left her... I think Soleil’s loved her since the day Odin carried her into our house!” Blonde curls were twisted between the older woman’s fingers. “Nina... please help my little sun as much as you can, okay? No doubt Laslow will throw daggers at Odin over this... I’ll do my best to prevent that, but make sure Soleil knows I have her back, okay?”

Nina looked at Charlotte, almost surprised to hear such emotion coming from her. Charlotte was usually harder on Soleil, but to know how much Ophelia meant to her... it must have softened her up a little.

“Yes Miss Charlotte. I’ll do all I can.”

“Thank you. Let me give you a ride home. I always worry about you girls riding the trolley...”

“The what?”

“The trolley. Do you not have those?”

“Um... we have trains here. And busses. But not trolleys, no.”

“Oh dear. What’s a mother to do when she doesn’t even know what her favorite girls ride to get anywhere? You teenagers... let’s go.”

Nina nodded, a bit relieved Charlotte was being so helpful. Often times the woman scared Nina, with how she could go from zero to one-hundred in no time flat, but she did consider her a mother, seeing as hers was absent. It felt good to have a mother-figure other than Camilla... Camilla seemed like she’d sooner cut off Sophie’s legs than let her leave home. 

...Maybe it was for the best that Camilla had dumped her dad before things got too crazy. The prospect of Camilla doting on her was really unnerving.

Upon arriving home, Nina closed the door to her room and lay on her bed. She wouldn’t be able to sleep, she already knew. Her options were to wait until soleil came home from her closing shift... or go see her boy toy!

Excitedly, Nina prepared herself to surprise Shigure. Hopefully he could help her see a new angle to this problem. He liked Ophelia and Soleil too, and she knew he’d be devastated if this wasn’t solved.

Oh well, for now she’d just shower him with kisses and fluster him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHOO. Finally added to this after so long. Hopefully we can keep this going after so long. Sorry to keep you waiting folks, expect the next few chapters soon!


End file.
